He didn't know exactly when it started. He didn't know why. It started as a curiosity. It turned into a liking.

Two years ago...

One day, he looked at her lower back. He was expecting it... any second now... She was wearing low-rise jeans. It was bound to happen. What was she hiding? He was about to find out. Jackpot! His penis twitched as he saw them. His head tilted. They were so innocuous and ladylike. Lace pink ones. He took a picture of that image and stored it in his powerful mind.

'Hmm. Interesting,' he thought.

It was his first time he’d seen hers. She happened to be his crush. She was cute, classy, with a little bit of pretentiousness, but he didn't care at the time. Sometimes he would see a panty shot only once. Sometimes he would see some daily. Sometimes he would see them more than once. Sadly, that would be the only time he would see them on his crush at the time. He didn't think about it then but... he liked it when they peeked out at him. Some were kind of cute, others were provocative.

He learned some things while seeing different types of panties on different types of girls and ultimately came to this conclusion: “You can always learn a little bit from what panties she has on.”

The origin of this curiosity stemmed from one moment that he'll never forget: high school algebra class. At that time, he was scrawny yet deathly shy with little to no sense of self-confidence. He had to make all new friends. One of the first people that he befriended happened to be female. She was friendly, smart, mature beyond her years, and had a sense of humor to her.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Tommy. Tommy James," he said simply.

"I like that name. I'm Ariadne." They sat near each other and became friends.

Until one day, at lunch with his boys, he heard...

“She’s a slut,” one of them persuaded. "Come on, she's got a different boyfriend every month!"

Tommy looked back at Ariadne, who happened to be sitting three tables behind them. He wanted to tell his friends off, but then again, he had just met Ariadne. Tommy was not one for rumors at all, but he sat this one out.

A few days later in Algebra class, it was just a regular day for Tommy until about midway through class. Ariadne dropped her pencil. While she was picking it up, her black thong accidentally displayed for all to see. To Tommy, something about her made her more attractive. Could it be that one little black thong? He wanted to feel it. He wanted to see more. He could not explain it. He wanted to see her dirty little secret.

Present day...

It was now their senior year. The two friends were both eighteen now. Tommy now was among the tallest in the senior class with facial hair, had a deeper voice, and was not as shy anymore. Ariadne now had a slim build with bigger breasts. Tommy was planning in his head to attempt to ask out one girl to the homecoming dance, as a ballsy move: his friend, Ariadne. That was until this...

"Hey, Tommy," Ari greeted.

"What's up, Ari?" Tommy said.

"So, my boyfriend flaked on the homecoming dance. I was wondering if..."

"Oh? Might I ask, what happened?"

"He’s working. I date an older man," she said.

"Cool. You got a ride? We’re going to be sexy!"

"I'll pick my dress up after work," she said.

"Where do you work at?" Tommy said.

"You know that lingerie store, bra and panties..."

"Ooh. Y'all hiring? Just from a male perspective, you know. If the chick wants to look sexy for her man, I can point her to that destination," Tommy said, instantly intrigued. Ariadne rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle.

"You know, I can show you…” she said.

“For real?” Tommy replied.

“After school. I’ll pick you up after your seventh period, then I’ll show you my dress and my work,” Ariadne said.

“Oh, shit. Your day ends after fourth period. Jealous. Cool. You can pick me up.”

She smiled. He smiled back and walked away, barely containing his excitement.

After his seventh-period pre-calculus class (which he dreaded) it was finally time to go home. Ariadne was there in her slightly used car. She honked twice in the parking lot. Tommy got in gingerly with a backpack in hand.

“Hey, Tommy,” Ari said, with a pair of purple panties in her hand.

“What’s up? Nice ride… Yo. Are those… I got questions,” Tommy said, pointing at aforementioned purple panties.

“I bet you do. You like? Cute, aren’t they? They’re mine. Perks of working there, huh? Now, I have to warn you about the power of these. These protect the worst and best-kept secret on God's green Earth.”

Ariadne gave them to Tommy. He looked at them. He fought the urge to feel them. Tommy looked at her quizzically.

“Yeah… they're cute,” Tommy said, looking at the panties. "I know about that."

"But it's more than just a schoolboy sexual fetish... it's more than that..." Ariadne said.

Tommy then put the panties in his backpack, and looked at Ariadne. He had more questions.

"Ok. Enlighten me." Tommy said, still looking at her worn purple panties, still not knowing why.

Ariadne sped off from their place of learning onto the main road. Without looking at him, she said:

"Tommy, those panties that you hold... they have powers. They are guardians. The last line of defense towards the sweet treasure that almost every man wants and dreams about... The vagina. The kitty. The pussy. Like bras, the panties are the bouncer that go on in that exclusive club that many men want, but can't get in. Don't get me started about bras, though. They are for another day. There is a certain science to our undergarments, Thomas."

Tommy looked at her incredulously. This was more than what he asked for.

"Okayyy, what science?" He asked.

"We want to look sexy for our men, but sexy hurts sometimes, you know? Also, there is always an unknown variable... what does said man like? Which is where you come in. For example, Tommy, are you a tits or ass man?" 

"Firstly, Ari, I'm an ass man. But there's nothing wrong with a fine pair of breasts," Tommy said campily, with a grin on his face. Ari rolled her eyes, knowing he was looking at her breasts. "Secondly, Ari, I got you. We as a male species are simple. So, so simple. I got this from the male point of view. Let me ask you this: Why do you think men watch porn and women read erotica novels?" Tommy asked.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

Tommy put up his hand wisely.

"Men are a visual species, like porn. If we see something that appeals to our stimuli, we go get it. We have a one-track mind. Women like to be stimulated in more than one way. Although it is scientifically proven you have bigger brains than us... y'all tend to overthink shit. Which is where your boy comes in. Men and women aren't meant to understand each other. They're meant to complement each other," Tommy said.

"You would turn that into a porn analogy. Freak. We're here."

They arrived at a strip mall. They went into the place where Ariadne was supposed to pick up her dress. 

"You want to see the dress on me? It's not we're like an item or anything," she said.

Tommy shrugged, and said, "Sure."

Ariadne went in the changing room and started to change, while Tommy looked on his phone. While she was in the changing room changing clothes, something piqued Tommy's interest. He looked up. It was Ariadne's silhouette. He all of a sudden began to picture what she looks like naked. Her silhouette faced forward, briefly seeing her bra. Then she faced the other direction, back towards him. He remembered... He had her worn panties. His penis hardened as he saw the shadow of her bare ass cheeks for a brief second. He took out her panties for exactly one-half of a second, feeling them, and caressing them. She came out with the dress on. Tommy quickly put them back in his pocket.

"So, how do I look?" Ariadne said. Tommy had a way with words most of the time, but could not find it. Her dress was a simple black dress that accentuated her curves. It showed off her cleavage just enough to tease. Tommy was nearly speechless, but finally found this to say:

"Damn. You look good."

She smiled assuredly.

30 minutes later...

Meanwhile at Ariadne's place of employment, they walked in nonchalantly.

"You're late. You know Tasha gonna chew that little cupcake ass of yours out." A very flamboyant male said to her.

"Shut up, Ken-Ken. We have a prospect here. This is Tommy, a friend from school. Thomas, meet Kendrick or Ken-Ken as we call him. Ken-Ken, Tommy," Ariadne said.

"Nice to meet you, Thomas."

Tommy said nothing, he just nodded and said:

"You too."

Out of earshot (or so they thought), Ken-Ken said softly to Ariadne:

"This ain't your boyfriend... unless you getting some side dick like before..."

"Nah, he actually wanted this. So I gave it to him. He thinks he can do this," she said.

Tommy's brain hearkened back to when his boys said "She's a slut" to him years ago. What if they were actually right? He put it out of his mind for now.

"If you say so, Ari. Thomas? Thomas..." Ken-Ken said.

Tommy got jerked back to reality. Tasha, Ariadne's boss was standing by the register now. Tasha looked older than him, very attractive face, curvaceous body, with a warm smile, but his eyes darted to her big breasts. He could tell she was one not to be trifled with.

"This is Tasha, Tommy. She's my boss here," Ariadne said.

"How you doing, Tommy? I understand you want to work here. What made you choose this job?" Tasha said.

"I'm good. Truthfully... Ari told me. I became curious about it and thought to myself could I do it and offer salesmanship from a male point of view," Tommy said, finding the words carefully.

"It's not easy being a salesperson, especially in this field," Tasha said.

"Well, I agree. Well, part of this field is a science with a variable that is forever going to be unknown to a woman. It's the same with guys. What does the opposite sex want? I am that variable. I can speak for that variable," Tommy said, getting confident.

"Hmm. You're the first non-perverted sicko to ask for a job here..."

Tommy thought again about Ari's panties stuffed in his pocket. 'Oh... what you don't know...'

"You know what? You're smart. You're truthful. I can give you an application to fill out. Just a technicality. After that, the job's yours." Tasha said. Tommy smiled in appreciation.

Later...

Ariadne was taking Tommy home.

"You know, you really do have a way with words, Thomas."

"You think?" Tommy said. "You will have to help me survive that jungle of sexy bras and panties, though."

"Don't worry, I will," Ariadne said, parking the car. "Were you checking me out while I was inside the dressing room?"

Tommy and Ariadne exchanged looks. Tommy had to be truthful to her.

"The door was closed, though. You couldn't see me," Tommy said with his hands out. Ariadne giggled.

"Call it intuition. It's ok. I'll give you something to look at..." She put her hand on his cheek.

Ariadne raised her shirt, showing her bra. Her bra was black. She massaged her breasts. She bit her bottom lip, which turned Tommy on.

"Just giving you what you wanted. Oh, and my panties may be a little... wet. Sorry, hehe. Bye, Tommy," Ariadne said in a cute voice, while he got out of her car.

"Peace."

After Tommy James got out of his friend's car, he had many questions. Why did his friend (with a boyfriend) flash him her breasts? Was it because he was checking her out? Or was it because all those years ago, that rumor may be true? However, one thing was true, Tommy James liked panties. He knew what they were hiding inside. He was about to find out.